Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.
Click here to subscribe today or Login.

Tom and Nick Finsterbusch are ready to open their Bear Creek Deli.

BEAR CREEK TWP. — Opening Saturday, Bear Creek Deli provides the convenience of a corner grocery store with competitive prices on quality products.

Tom Finsterbusch and his family spent today putting the finishing touches on the deli, located on the corner of Route 115 and Swanson Road.

Shelves are stocked with fresh vegetables, grocery staples including instant scallop potatoes, mayonnaise and other condiments, hotdog and hamburger buns and marshmallows for summer camp-outs.

The deli counter is ready with a variety of cheeses and meats for purchase by the pound or to make hoagies.

“We tried to keep prices are in-line with a ‘Mom and Pop’ grocery store, not a convenience store,” Tom Finsterbusch, co-owner, said.

Finsterbusch tried to maintain an old-fashion neighborhood market atmosphere while providing modern conveniences such as ready-to-eat meals including homemade meatballs, potato and pasta salads and pudding prepared daily.

“We make the meatballs fresh and freeze them,” Finsterbusch’s son and partner, Nick, said. “All you have to do is heat them up.”

Pellman Foods Inc. of New Holland, provides an assortment of cakes to satisfy any sweet tooth.

Rolls for hoagies arrive fresh daily from The Bakehouse in Kingston, Finsterbusch said.

Bear Creek Deli will offer a lunch delivery service for Plains Township, Bear Creek and Wilkes-Barre.

A catering service is also available, Finsterbusch said.

Having worked as a district manager for a discount retail chain, Finsterbusch said he always wanted to operate small corner deli/grocery store.

His dream corresponds with a national revival of the small neighborhood grocer. According to Food Marketing Institute, a trend is emerging as smaller grocery stores featuring fresh foods, specialty items and prepared meals are on the rise.

Finsterbusch and his family believe they have found a business niche for the rural community.

He moved his family of five from the hustle of Philadelphia to the laid back lifestyle of the Bear Creek area five years ago. They quickly discovered forgetting something during a shopping trip would result in an inconvenient drive back to town.

Finsterbusch hopes the mini-store will accommodate many of his neighbors and provide a place for travelers and locals to pickup a fresh hoagie or ready-to-eat meal.